Madison
County Genealogical Society
Minutes of the Meeting - September 13, 2012
The September 2012 meeting of the Madison
County Genealogical Society was held at the Edwardsville Public Library on
Thursday, September 13, at 7:00 pm.
President, Robert Ridenour, called the
meeting to order.
GIFT
MEMBERSHIPS AVAILABLE
Do you have a family member that is
interested in (or even obsessed with) genealogy? A membership in the Madison
County Genealogical Society would be a very thoughtful gift. A gift card will
be sent to the recipient of any gift membership.
The following memberships are available:
Individual/Family Annual Membership $20.00
Patron Annual Membership $30.00
Life Membership $250.00
Contact our Secretary, Barbara Hitch, at racerbarb@aol.com,
about a gift membership.
September
Meeting
On September 13, 2012, Dawn Cobb, Human
Skeletal Remains Protection Act Coordinator, Illinois Historic Preservation
Agency, and Hal Hassen, Archaeologist, Illinois Department of Natural
Resources, made a presentation titled Guide to Understanding Illinois' Historic Cemeteries.
Dawn discussed the concepts of prehistoric burial grounds. Burial grounds and
cemeteries did not just start when the white man moved into the area and
brought in their customs. The prehistoric people who lived here disposed of the
bodies of their loved ones in very similar ways. This has been going on for the
past 12,000 years as documented through archaeology. There were different
cultures classified based on their technology and how they lived their lives.
The Archaic period
(10,000 to 3,000 years ago) people were in a hunter-gatherer way of life. They
lived in hunting camps, not permanent villages, and moved with the wild game
upon which they fed. Many of these hunting camps were built at the base of the
bluffs where caves and rock shelters were present. These people tended to build
small burial mounds on the bluffs, but they occasionally buried some of their
deceased in the living area of the rock shelters.
The Woodland
period (3,000 to 1,250 years ago) people also tended to bury their dead in
mounds on the bluff top overlooking the rivers. The Middle Woodland period saw
the construction of large mounds on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi
River. Everything was very elaborate - the items buried in the graves came from
great distances and showed large amounts of labor involved. The Middle Woodland
period lasted only about 500-600 years and stopped abruptly. The reasons for
the beginning and ending of this period are not known. It almost appears to be
a cult of the dead or a belief system. The late Woodland period saw things
calming down, but the mounds were still built along the major rivers.
During the Mississippian
period people lived in large cities and villages along the Mississippi
River- Cahokia is a prime example of this. The Mississippian period still has
mounds, but they are starting to designate burial areas separate from their
habitation place. These appear to be planned communities with strict rules
about how they are going to lay out their lives and their death.
The Post-Contact (after 1673) culture started being affected by contact with
the European missionaries. The European culture brought the concept of church
or family cemeteries, which would eventually grow into large community
cemeteries. Now instead of mounds, there are individual grave markers.
The pre-historic mounds were built to be seen. They are high above the rivers —
the main mode of transportation at the time — and can be seen from a long distance.
The mounds may have been decorated; there is no way to tell now.
Hal discussed the evolution of cemeteries and grave markers during the 18th and
19th centuries. Obviously, every cemetery starts with the burial of just one
person and grows. If you are observant, you can see changes in the cemetery:
marker materials, types of markers, positioning of markers, folk art, etc. A
marker is not only a snapshot of one point in time and one belief system, but
it can also show a transition of that belief. Burial grounds transitioned into
cemeteries and the cemeteries changed form and format over time. We looked at
seven different types of burial grounds: pioneer burial grounds, churchyard
burial grounds, rural cemeteries, lawn cemeteries, memorial park cemeteries,
military cemeteries, and institutional cemeteries.
When Europeans first settled in Illinois, those who died had to be buried
somewhere and there were no formal cemeteries. People were buried on the farms
where they lived and worked. There were very few towns and very few churches.
People buried on the farms were usually buried on a hilltop overlooking a
stream. Over time, the Pioneer Burial Ground, which was immediate family, changed to
extended family through marriage. Eventually, non-family members are going to
be buried in those burial grounds as well.
Eventually, churches are built and with the churches came the Churchyard
Burial Grounds. Not all churches have burial grounds. Today you will find
church burial grounds with no church. The church building is gone for some
reason.
Towns started to be built in Illinois and the people were living in towns and
not on the farm. Those that die in town have to be buried somewhere so a lot of
communities had burial grounds within the town and city limits. There was no
church associated with these burial grounds, and we have what is called the
"secularization of death."
In Illinois, these burial ground changes occurred from 1673 up to the early
1800s. In the east, where people have been living since the early 1600s, the
cities have larger populations. More people are being buried in burial grounds
inside cities. The large burial grounds inside the cities fall into disrepair
and are becoming eyesores because no one is taking care of them.
At the same time, people are becoming disenchanted with city life. There is a
lot of crime, a lot of poverty, a lot of disease, and people are living very
close to one another. People are not really happy in the big city. A lot of
people feel that the decaying burial grounds in the city limits are a cause of
a lot of illness. At the same time, the burial grounds in the middle of large
cities represent prime real estate and economic opportunity is being stifled
because the burial grounds are there.
For these two reasons, they want to relocate the burials from the city. They
move the bodies out of the city and encourage people to bury their loved ones
in the future in what's going to be called the Rural Cemetery. They will be very
different than the type of burial grounds that people are accustomed to - the
pioneer and small town cemeteries. The word "cemetery" was first used
in conjunction with the "new" rural cemeteries.
The rural cemetery encourages individual families to buy a family plot with
stone coping and one large central monument. The rural cemetery movement wanted
to assure that, in death, everyone was going to be treated equally. Even though
there were status differences in life, at least when we die, we are all the
same.
The rural cemetery movement brought about a change in how we bury people.
Fraternal organizations were prominent in the beginning of the rural cemetery
movement. The markers in rural cemeteries show membership in all types of
fraternal organizations. People joined these organizations in part to facilitate
the expense of a funeral. Life insurance was started to help pay for funerals.
In a burial ground or cemetery, everything you see is meant to be seen by the
living. It has very little to do with death. Everything above ground is there
for a reason — people want you to see it. Unfortunately, a lot of what you see
is status and people want you to see how wealthy they were or how important
they were in society. The rural cemetery movement tried to move away from that
and treat everyone the same.
The family plot with one marker soon gave way to a central marker plus
individual markers. Status was again being transported to the cemetery — the
idea of everyone being equal did not work out too well. Human nature is such
that we do not want to be equal; we want to show people that we have a higher
status. The idea of having a family plot with one marker is falling apart; the
markers are getting bigger and bigger.
The idea was that you would come into the rural cemetery and picnic, walk
around, commune with nature, and have a good time. Since the markers were
getting bigger and the trees have grown, you could longer see very far into the
cemetery. In Cincinnati, the architects decided to do something different. They
came up with the concept of a Lawn Cemetery. They shrank the markers down in size, they opened it
up with shrubs, took away the trees, did away with the family plots; it is just
husband and wife. But, even the lawn cemeteries have different sized markers
that show an indication of wealth or status.
In the 20th century, in Forest Lawn, California, they came up with the concept
of a Memorial
Park. The intent was that everyone would have a marker that is the same and
the memorial park would supply the statuary and the decoration.
In some cemeteries, you can see all these types — rural, lawn, and memorial
park. The burial ground has changed over time
In Military
Cemeteries, all the markers look the same. A lot of the Civil War areas in
cemeteries have a large statue of a soldier and the soldiers are buried in
circles around the statue.
In Institutional
Cemeteries, all the markers are the same — everyone is equal. The marker
contains their name and the date of death.
The changes that occur in burial grounds are reflections of changes in the
community and social attitude.
Graves are marked with what is available. The earliest markers were made of
wood. Some early graves are marked with fieldstone — whatever was available
from the creek. The fieldstone may not be carved, or it may be carved with the name
and the date. Sandstone markers were cut and carved by people who had the
skill. Sandstone is native to Illinois but many areas of Illinois do not have
access to sandstone, so you will not find sandstone markers in those areas.
Markers were changing at the same time as the burial grounds but markers do not
change very much. The engraving is usually always the same: Name on top,
followed by dates, and epitaph at the bottom.
The early markers do not have a lot of folk art. The language on early 19th century
markers is fairly uniform — In Memory Of.......... It is very simple, a Puritan approach to
death — fatalistic and unsentimental.
There is no marker style or shape in Illinois that originates in Illinois. It
all comes from out east.
Marble markers became popular during the Civil War because the marble could be
transported from its source in the east by railroad.
If the marker is marble, most of the time it will be facing west, i.e., the
writing to the west. The body is behind the marker with the head facing east —
the Resurrection — the rising sun is Christian symbolism. Granite markers
usually reverse those directions. With a granite marker, you are usually
standing on the grave to read the marker. Marble footstones will have the
writing facing east. Footstones are not used any longer. There are exceptions
to these rules of thumb but most of the time the directions are as mentioned.
Markers have changed over 150 years from wood and fieldstone to elaborately
computer carved granite markers. These represent changes in consumerism and
social changes, along with technology.
This was a very
interesting presentation and generated questions and comments from the
audience.